Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LORD, who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession. For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Let that line, “Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant!” soak into your soul. Have you ever come in from a day of shoveling walks and drive ways after a major snow storm and collapsed into a warm bath. OH, my! What a treat. As is this line from Psalm 135. it is like a warm bath to tired muscles.

I, as I write, I am remembering an afternoon in the ‘50s when a friend and I spent several hours shoveling snow in the wealthier section of Des Moines, so we could take our current girlfriends out for an evening. It must have been worth it, that former GF, now my wife for 64 years, just brought me a cup of tea.

SING TO HIS NAME FOR HE IS PLEASANT.

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 45, Noon Psalm 119:25-32, Evening Psalm 113

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

A Song of Ascents. Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD! May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth! 

Isn’t this a strange thought? That we, the product of His Word, are called upon to bless the LORD, God, the Almighty. And yet we are. His purpose in creating us, was to have sentient beings, made in His image and whose sole responsibility is to glorify Him.

Are we faithful to that calling?

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 44, Noon Psalm 119:17-24, Evening Psalm 112

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.

Could the Holy Spirit be urging a spirit of unity among the Christian churches today? What happened to the Evangelicals and Catholics Together movement earlier in this century. Did we miss an opportunity to uncover a fount of that precious oil? Does not each sect and denomination have a shortcoming, some flaw in their liturgy?

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 43, Noon Psalm 119:9-16, Evening Psalm 111

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

Tsadhe Righteous are you, O LORD, and right are your rules. You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness. My zeal consumes me, because my foes forget your words. Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it. I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts. Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true. Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight. Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.

“Shining in the center of Second Corinthians 4:4, like a pearl in its setting, you will find thee words “...The light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ…”

“Paul was a man of one idea. The Gospel of Christ saturated his soul as the dew saturated Gideon’s fleece. He could think of nothing else, and speak of nothing else, but the glory of Christ crucified. Important events in politics transpired in the apostle’s day, but I cannot remember an allusion to them. Great social problems were to be solved, but his one and only solution was the preaching of that great Savior. For Paul there was but one thing worth living for, and that one thing was worth dying for. He did not count even his life dear to him that he might win Christ , and be found in Him.” A quotation from a sermon, The Gospel of the Glory of Christ” by Charles H Spurgeon, published in Herald of His Coming, March/April,

We must not ever forget in our preaching and teaching, that no matter what social problem or which war is being fought by man, there is no issue or event that is worth living or dying except the glory of our LORD, Jesus, Christ.

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 42, Noon Psalm 119:1-8, Evening Psalm 110

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

“This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread. Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy. There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on him his crown will shine.”

It seems to me that the first three sentences should have been included in yesterday’s VT. They definitely refer to the dwelling place of the LORD, God, the Almighty. I’ve been struck this morning that the Creator of Universe, the I AM, will be making His permanent dwelling place among us. That is just over the top, breathtakingly awesome.

There will be a special place for King David in the New Jerusalem. That I know, but do not have a grasp of the significance of the last two sentences. Are they a "wait and see"?

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 41, Noon Psalm 119:169-176, Evening Psalm 109

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne.” For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place:

The LORD’s sure oath from which He did not turn back; but the sons of David did, beginning with Solomon and his 1000 wives and concubines. And their wives’ gods thrown in for good measure. The hypocrisy continued with a few exceptions for generation upon generation and the occasional captivity until those glorious words, “It is Finished!”

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 40, Noon Psalm 119:161-168, Evening Psalm 108

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar. “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool!” Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy. For the sake of your servant David, do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

“Let us go to His dwelling place.” We are to worship where He is. And where is that? We no longer have a temple, but are not we, the children of the LORD, God, the Almighty, His dwelling place? Are not we, His children, to worship Him where ever and when ever we gather?

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 39, Noon Psalm 119:153-160, Evening Psalm 32

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

A Song of Ascents. Remember, O LORD, in David's favor, all the hardships he endured, how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, “I will not enter my house or get into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Do we make vows like this today? Should we? This was not an idle vow. David was serious; he was swearing to devote all his energies, his wealth, his comforts, his all to the search.

What is a suitable dwelling place for the LORD? Is He demanding the very finest in furnishings? Or does He desire the sincerity of my Worship? Should my mind be filled with questions regarding His opinion of the sincerity of my heart? Rather not that the very evidence of the focus of my mind be overflowing in my prayers and in my sharing of His work in my life?

Eugene Peterson in Answering God, The Psalms as Tools for Prayer, puts it well, “At the center of the whole enterprise of being human, prayers are the primary technology. Prayers are the primary tools that God uses to work His will in our bodies and souls, Prayers are tools that we to collaborate in His work with us.”

Am I? Are we?

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 38, Noon Psalm 119:145-152, Evening Psalm 31

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

A Song of Ascents. Of David. O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

How easy it is to, as my English friends say, “Get my knickers in a twist” over an issue that is far beyond my purview. I need to practice the habit of going to the Holy Spirit and seeking His guidance, listening to Him and obeying before I go off half cocked. So much damage has been done over the years because of a mouth that is firing before the mind has gone to the LORD, seeking the guidance of the LORD, God, the Almighty.

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 37, Noon Psalm 119:137-144, Evening Psalm 30

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

Pe Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your way with those who love your name. Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Redeem me from man's oppression, that I may keep your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.

I’m beginning to wonder if there is a pattern here, used from time to time by Ish Elohim, to emphasize a contrast between the LORD, God, the Almighty and man. He is listing the graciousness of the LORD right up to the very last sentence. Read them over and over, shear beauty. And then the denouement, he weeps streams of tears due to the disobedience of man. Oh, that I would join him.

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 36, Noon Psalm 119:129-136, Evening Psalm 29

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD. For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

“Hope is in the LORD” And I am directed to hope in the LORD. Why? Because in Him is steadfast love and plentiful redemption. Steadfast love and plentiful redemption add up to reconciliation. And I am called to be His Minister of Reconciliation. Hallelujah.

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 35, Noon Psalm 119:121-128, Evening Psalm 28

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.

A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

What a powerful conclusion to the first section of this Psalm. A declaration of the certainty of the LORD, God, the Almighty power and willingness to forgive. I believe I am correct in saying that there is no other religion in which the principal god is marked by a spirit of forgiveness. Not only marked, but identified by that spirit.

Join the Ailbe Community

As a member of the Ailbe Community you join a movement of men working for revival, renewal, and awakening, built upon prayer, sharing, and mutual edification. The Ailbe Community is devoted to practicing the Kingship of Jesus in every area of our lives. Go to www.ailbe.org/about to learn more.

Reading

Morning Psalm 34, Noon Psalm 119:113-120, Evening Psalm 27

An alternate Reading Plan is based on 7 chapters/day from 7 sections of the Scriptures. My groupings are: Genesis-Joshua, Judges to Esther, Job to Song of Solomon, Psalms breaking 119 into convenient sets, Isaiah to Malachi, Matthew to Acts, Romans to Revelation.

Or set your own reading schedule up in convenient groupings as fits your study habits. But a daily time in the Word of the LORD is an absolute.